Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health #6

Let's talk about snacking while we're talking about food. For better heart health, try snacking on nuts such as almonds or walnuts instead of chips or cookies when you need a snack. Nuts actually contain lots of healthy ingredients that can help your heart.

Nuts can also help curb your appetite when you eat them between meals. Now I'm talking about raw nuts not sugar roasted.

You can also add nuts to salads or other dishes. They are a great source of protein as well.

Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health #5

Yesterday I talked about breakfast as being the most important meal. Today let's talk about what things are healthy choices throughout the day. Today, I want you to start by adding 1 extra serving of fruits or vegetables. If you are eating less than 5 servings a day, your goal will be to get to 5 a day and maintain that level. So start today by adding 1 extra to whatever you are currently eating.

Fruits and vegetables not only help with heart health, but they help with brain chemistry, brain health, strengthening your immune system to helping the bowel to function better. Substitute a piece of fruit for dessert or whatever it is that you are eating during the day when you crave sugar. This is a healthier way to eat and you will crave sugar less.

Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health #4

Now You're breathing deeply, you're exercising with your walk and lifting weights. Next let's talk about eating. I have mentioned it before, but this is so very important that it bears repeating. Make breakfast the most important meal of the day.

Feeding your body after a night's rest is vital to it's functioning in a normal way. Starving the body by not eating breakfast will not make you lose weight and may in fact make you gain weight. Be sure that you have some form of protein, a serving of whole grains and a serving of fruit. This will balance things within your body so that it can take on the day and expend the appropriate energy required.

Remember, your mother was right when she said to eat your breakfast!

Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health #3

Now you've started to exercise which will help lower things like cholesterol. But more importantly, the exercise will increase the strength of your heart and take away some weight which is adding stress to the heart.

The heart needs lots of oxygen to stay well. So now before you take your 10 minute walk or lift your weights, take 2 minutes to deep breath slowly. This will help prepare you for your walk or to lift the weights. At night before you go to bed or as you are going to bed, sit and take 10 slow deep breaths. This will relax you and take the stress away from your heart. Deep breathing can also help you lower your blood pressure.

More tomorrow.

Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health #2

Yesterday you started walking - just 10 minutes. Today I want you to lift a 2 pound weight or a heavy book 5-10 times. Do this a couple of times. This will begin to tone up muscles. If you already lift weights or use free weights 2-3 times a week, then you're already doing this one.

If you work, when you need to take a break, lift the weight, do it during your lunch hour or whenever you have a few minutes. You can even do this while you're watching TV.

When it becomes easy for you to lift whatever it is that you are using, then increase the weight.

More tomorrow.

Little Things That Can Imporve Heart Health

Over the next several days I'm going to be talking about some little things that you can begin to implement for better heart health. Instead of waiting until you have a heart problem, start now with little things that can make a difference as far as whether you will ever have a heart problem.

Start out with taking a brief 10 minute walk. If you currently are not exercising, this is a great way to get started. If you currently do exercise, this will add a little extra exercise into your day. Find ways to do this. Park as far away from where you're going as you can, so that you can walk for 10 minutes. The advantage of this is that you have just put 20 minutes of walking into your day and that is awesome!

If you live in an apartment, walk the hallways for 10 minutes. You don't have to go outside, just walk for 10 minutes.

More tomorrow.

A request for help

I had someone take the Real Age test. Her Real Age test score said she was 78.6. Her actual age is 58. Here is some of her information which will give you a clue as to why her Real Age Results are what they are. She is 5 feet 1 inch tall and weighs 200 pounds. She has bipolar disorder, high blood pressure, fibromyalgia, and diabetes.

This women has lots of issues which increase her age. She openly admits that food brings her pleasure and is really the only pleasure she gets. Why is that? If you are eating foods with lots of sugar or carbohydrates, the initial brain response is one of feeling good. Unfortunately, shortly there after you take a tumble in the feeling good score and now you feel bad again or worse than before you ate those sugary foods. This is like an addiction in that shortly after you eat the sugary foods, the bad feelings return and you go back after the sugar to feel better again. You can understand why weight goes up when this is what is happening to you.

You can increase the serotonin which is the feel good hormone by eating something like turkey which contains tryptophan. Tryptophan is what the body uses to make serotonin. This will also keep dopamine levels healthy as well. Balance here is the key.

Most of the time when we eat for "pleasure" we're not thinking about what we're eating we just are putting it into our mouths and go on our way. Take the time to really savor what it is that you are eating. Also, take some time to write down a list of things that you really love to do that are fun. The next time you feel like eating your way out of a problem, try doing one of the things on your list.